The Georgian era started from 1714 to 1830 and included great political, social, and cultural changes throughout society. This era is marked by the emergence of Romanticism in both art and literary formats. Along with an emergence of Romanticism came writers who placed emphasis on beauty and the power of nature, often using different settings as metaphors for deeper meanings. There were many authors that rose from this change; some of the most prominent include the three Brontë sisters; Charlotte, Anne, and Emily. One of the most famous examples of romanticism at this time is the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.

Wuthering Heights creates a beautiful story with emphasis on both gothic and romantic aspects. Brontë creates a tale of love and loss with its central characters Heathcliff and Catherine, who are thrust apart by the cruel fate of circumstance. Both characters spend abundant amounts of time at the central setting of the story, that is, Wuthering Heights. The house represents the passion and emotions behind their intricate relationship, while also symbolizing the idea of being unable to escape one’s emotions.  Brontë narrates the intricate story through the eyes of two different narrators who are both directly and indirectly thrust into the lives of the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights. This allows for a complex and powerful narrative that truly makes the reader question just how much love can affect one’s actions.

Synopsis: When Mr. Earnshaw, master of Wuthering Heights, returns from a trip with an unkempt orphan in tow, he announces that the child, Heathcliff, is now a member of the family. While young Catherine Earnshaw becomes close with Heathcliff, her older brother Hindley sinks into bitter resentment. As Catherine and Heathcliff mature, and their affection blossoms into desire, Hindley’s resentment boils over into hatred, setting the stage for a tragic drama whose aftermath will shake the foundations of their world.

Genre: Fiction, Gothic, Historical Fiction

Important Characters:

-Heathcliff

-Catherine Earnshaw

-Edgar Linton

-Isabella Linton

-Ellen (Nelly) Dean

-Hindley Earnshaw

-Mr. Lockwood

-Hareton Earnshaw

-Catherine Linton

-Linton Heathcliff

My review: 5/5: I enjoyed this novel a lot more than I had anticipated. This novel is a beautiful piece of literature that defies societal standards and introduces characters and ideas that were frowned upon during the time. This novel introduces ideas of love and loss, as well as revenge and passion and ties them together in an intricate story. I enjoyed learning about the Earnshaws and the Lintons as well as learning the history behind the strange inhabitants of Wuthering Heights. I also enjoyed that the story was narrated from an outward perspective! I would completely recommend this book to any who might be interested in reading classical literature!

Editor Reviews:

“Emotionally epic entertainment.” –The Times

“Wuthering Heights is a strange sort of book-baffling all regular criticism; yet it is impossible to begin and not finish it; and quite as impossible to lay it aside afterwards and say nothing about it….We strongly recommend all our readers who love novelty to get this story, for we can promise them that they never have read anything like it before.” –Douglas Jerrold’s Weekly Newspaper (January 1848)

“[A] classic tale of possessive and thwarted passion… There is something magnificent about the depth and intensity of their love… It is hard not to listen in awe when Catherine cries out, ‘I am Heathcliff! He’s always, always in my mind; not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being..” –500 Great Books by Women Erica Bauermeister

About the Author: 

Emily Brontë (1818-1848) was a poet and novelist, one of the three renowned literary Brontë sisters. A sensation when it first appeared in 1847, Wuthering Heights was the sole novel she published in her lifetime.

Why you might want to read this book:

-it’s a complex exploration of passion, and of the destructiveness that may result from love.

-tells the story from an outward perspective

-Interesting characters with different personal motives

-A piece of memorable classic literature

-dives into the motives behind revenge and how lost love plays a part in intricately narrating the story.

Catherine and Heathcliff’s story is one filled with strong themes of love, passion, and revenge. Their relationship is the root that allows Wuthering Heights to bloom into the beautifully intricate tale that it is. Wuthering Heights is a piece of classical literature that truly represents the importance of the era of Romanticism and the belief that love and passion can truly be both beautiful and destructive. 

My Favorite Quotes-

• “He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”

• “If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger.”

• “If he loved with all the powers of his puny being, he couldn’t love as much in eighty years as I could in a day”

• “I have not broken your heart- you have broken it; and in breaking it, you have broken mine”

• “My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I’m well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He’s always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always, a pleasure to myself, but as my own being.”

• “Treachery and violence are spears pointed at both ends; they wound those who resort to them worse than their enemies.”

• “May you not rest, as long as I am living. You said I killed you- haunt me, then.”